


Boss Battle

by Milkbonez



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Akamatsu Kaede Lives, Alternate Universe, Brotp, Gen, Self-Indulgent, Spoilers, Tickling, shuichi also lives but that's not relevant for this work, this spoils the victims for ch 1 and 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-05-13 23:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19261747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milkbonez/pseuds/Milkbonez
Summary: Kokichi and Kaede have a play-date in the Game Room to de-stress after the second trial.





	Boss Battle

**Author's Note:**

> Quick backstory: at one point, I was working on a Kaede Lives AU in which both she and Shuichi survive past Ch 1. When she lost the trust of the rest of the class after the first trial, she distanced herself from Shuichi to keep him from being "tainted" by associating with her and began to get close to Kokichi instead (although Shuichi and Kaito still want to reach out to her). She and Kokichi partnered up to investigate the second murder, while Shuichi stuck with Kaito.
> 
> With that out of the way, please enjoy!

Kokichi bounced up and down on his toes when a panicked civilian was snatched away behind a corner. “Boss fight, boss fight, boss fight,” he sang, clapping a hand rhythmically against the red plastic handgun he held.

Kaede lay her blue gun in its holder so she could crack her knuckles during the short cutscene that followed. “Geez, can’t this game drop any health packs or something?” she grumbled. She was down to the last of her five hit points.

“You’d get some if you would shoot the zombies instead of the people running away from them, you know.”

“You shush. Some of those shots are insane.”

The boss was five giant, armored serpents, four bronze worms flanking a fifth steel-blue one, each one eyeless but armed full of teeth. Kaede picked up her gun, remarking, “Hey, that looks like that five-headed dragon thing from that one episode of _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ Did you ever see it?”

“Not sure,” he said, aiming at the screen. “I’ll try to remember after this.”

The fight was on. Cartoon gunshots and high-pitched roars were interspersed between rapid clicks, nervous giggles, and frustrated grunts.

“Ah, he chomped me!”

“Shoot them in the mouth!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying…”

“Oh, oh, oh…!”

“Look at you go! Living life on the edge!”

“Three hits, it’s three hits per head.”

“Don’t forget to reload!”

One giant snake attacked Kaede and depleted her last hit point. She had ten seconds to pay another coin to continue the fight. “Do you have any more Monocoins on you?” she asked Kokichi.

Killing the fourth serpent, he patted his pockets during the brief cutscene that preceded the boss’s second phase. “Nope, _nada_.”

Putting her gun back, Kaede crouched down to her backpack and pawed through it. She couldn’t find a single coin burrowed in her spare vest or the loose music sheets… Why were the sheets even here, again? She ought to put them away next time she went to her dorm room. Rising up, she hurried to seat for a car-racing game, smacking the side of the machine over and over with her hand.

“Nooo!” Kokichi cried. Kaede glanced back to see **Continue?** in giant text onscreen, along with a countdown from 10.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you!” she called, smacking the driving game harder.

 _Clink!_ A single Monocoin fell into the coin return slot of the game. “Yes! Look!” She held it up for him to see.

Kokichi’s shoulders sagged, and he shook his head. “Too late.” The game had already returned to the title screen. Putting away the plastic gun, he took up her backpack and carried it with him to where she stood. “But, the way you forced that coin out with a few hits was pretty impressive, Ka-yay-day. Are you suuure you don’t want to join my secret organization? You could help us raise funds for our schemes pretty easily with your superpower.”

Kaede scoffed, taking her backpack to store the Monocoin. “Superpower, ha. And I’ll pass on that offer.” His evil organization was one of his favorite fibs, it seemed.

“Well, you have to pay me back _somehow_.”

“Huh? What for?”

Kokichi folded his hands behind his head. “For helping you in the last investigation. My help doesn’t come free, you know.”

She stiffened. She thought Kokichi had reached out during the investigation of Ryoma’s murder to genuinely help her. Nobody cared for Kokichi’s childish behavior, and after Rantaro’s murder forced her to explain her abandoned Rube Goldberg device, Kaede had become very unpopular with the rest of the class. Surely, this was another of his strange jokes… in which case, she would humor him. “Alright, is there another way I can pay you back for your help?”

“Hmm… Oh, I got it. Put your arms up!”

Kaede’s brow quirked. “Why?”

“Payback step one.” He pointed at her finger-gun style. “Stick ‘em up, punk.”

Setting her bag down, she raised her hands above her head, only to flinch back when he reached towards her. Her heel hit the driving game behind her, and she lost her balance and plopped into its seat.

It was Kokichi’s turn to scoff. “What was that?”

Kaede hugged herself protectively. “Why do you want me to raise my arms?”

“Because,” Kokichi said, pointing both of his index fingers now, “I have you at finger-gunpoint.”

“No, I want to know.”

“What do you think I’m going to do to you, scaredy cat?”

“Tickle me, duh. That’s a super obvious scheme to tickle someone.”

“Well, I didn’t even know you were ticklish, so…”

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“It’s a nice surprise. Just trust me.”

Kaede hesitated. It would be easy for him to take advantage of her weak spots. On the other hand, her playing along might help break down the walls he built with his lies. Standing up, she slowly raised her hands again. “This alright?”

“Perfect.” He leaned in. Her elbows twitched with the urge to shrink back. Kokichi’s arms closed around her middle, and his chin met the crook of her neck. “See? Just a hug.”

Kaede put her arms around him, careful not to squeeze too tightly. He felt bony and fragile under his white uniform. She started to rub his back but stopped upon feeling his shirt’s stitches running down the middle, not wanting to disturb them. What a bizarre design for a school uniform… “Funny, you struck me as someone who doesn’t like hugs,” she remarked.

“Looks like your common sense is wrong on this one, nee-heehee! And that’s not all.”

She had no time to puzzle over his words before two fingers jabbed under her left ribs. She winced with a squeak, exposing her other side to a squeeze. “He-Hey!” His hands prodded sensitive spots on both of her sides in rapid succession. Down she went again onto the driving game’s seat.

“You, _ha ha ha_! You lied—!” Kaede cried amid her laughter. She tried to shield her sides, her stomach, her ribs from his attack.

Kokichi maneuvered around her hands and arms, grinning at her giggles as she squirmed in the seat. “Duh, I’m a liar! You of all people should know that.” He reached down to give her knee an experimental squeeze.

“Eek! Don’t!” She clutched his hand and yanked it off, not seeing his other hand darting in to dig into her lower ribs. Kaede threw her head back to howl, _“No—! Ahahaha!”_ Her legs jerked involuntarily; she kneed him in the abdomen, making him stagger backwards.

“Oof!”

Kaede climbed from the seat, grinning. “C’mere, you!”

Ever light on his feet, Kokichi danced backwards and spun around to run to the exit. Kaede managed to beat him there by one pace; she threw herself against the ajar door, slamming it closed. He turned to go the other way, towards the A/V room.

She called, “There’s no way out through there, you know. The door to the hall is stuck, remember?”

He halted halfway across the game room, huffing a breath. Kaede giggled at his misfortune, which bloomed into full guffaws when he turned to tramp towards her, arms outstretched, fingers wiggling.

“Ka-yay-day,” Kokichi sang, “will you please move out of the way of the door?”

She reached for him, too, still giggling too much to speak. She kept her eyes trained on him, his mischievous grin, his hands raised to strike.

“Why are you laughing so much? I’m not even close to touching you.”

Before he could lunge, Kaede made a move to grab his shoulders, swapping their positions. Her hands were trapped under his armpits by the time Kokichi leaned on the door, snickering and at her mercy.

_“Stahahap!”_

“Chomp, chomp! The five-headed snake boss is back for revenge!” Kaede hollered. Her face lit up at how he squealed when she pinched along his ribs. Kokichi twisted from side to side, batting at her hands. Her fingers curled into claws, she danced around his torso just as he had done to her. “Wow, I didn’t realize you were so ticklish, Kokichi! Chompa-chomp!”

A fluttering over her collarbones made Kaede’s shoulders shoot up to her ears. She jumped back with a squeak. Kokichi pointed at her with one finger-gun, taking a few deep breaths. “I’m not out of the fight yet,” he quipped, cheeks flushed.  “And it looks like I found another weak point.”

Kaede couldn’t hold back a smile even as she retreated further with each menacing step he took. Kokichi lowered his chin, casting his face into shadow, which gave his residual laughter a more sinister tone. “What’s the matter? Doesn’t the bitey snake boss want to come back and finish the job?”

“I think you won this round.”

“Not yet. After all, the boss has two phases!”

“Yeah, but you won—!” she said, voice pitching when Kokichi lurched forward. To her surprise, he threw his arms around her neck instead.

“I’m collecting my prize.” He broke away from the hug, grinning. “An extra life to fight another day!”

Caught up in his jokey excitement and still bubbly from the tickling, Kaede laughed. “Even though you’re a jerk for lying… that was pretty fun.”

“Nee-heehee! I don’t know what you were expecting from me.”

She stuck her tongue at him, then asked, “Was that enough payback for the last investigation?

Kokichi raised a hand to tap a finger to his chin. “Hm… Yes, it is, but you still owe me!”

“Huh? What for this time?”

“It was so boooring playing video games with a noob like you! You need to practice shooting zombies and not getting hit all the time.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that.”

“Once we find more Monocoins, if you ask me really nicely, I might offer to come watch you and give you tips on how not to kill civilians and how not to die.”

Kokichi sneered with a finger over his lips, but Kaede saw right through his lie this time. He had just as much fun gaming with her as she had with him. Still, she played along. “Wow, how kind of you,” she said. “You think maybe you would even back me up while I’m practicing?”

“Probably not.” Kokichi walked to the door, pausing to watch her grab her backpack from across the room. “After all, with your superpower, you’ll be rolling in Monocoins way sooner than I’d even have two to rub together.” He swung the door open and stepped out of the room, lamenting, “Ka-yay-day is so mean, she won’t even offer to use her powers for my evil purposes.”

Kaede hurried along to catch up to him. “That’s because I’m busy using them for my own evil purposes.” She pinched his side, chuckling when he flinched.

**Author's Note:**

> I have often thought about what the dynamic between Kokichi and Kaede would be like had Kaede lived past Ch 1 in-game, considering she seems to be the only one who can see that he's just a childish clown who actually hates the killing game. Kokichi seems to like the less-bright characters, but I feel like he could find himself able to trust Kaede (even in this AU, where she still set up her murder machine but didn't go through with her plan). It's unlikely I'll ever write out my Kaede AU in full, but if nothing else, it's a good setting for when I want to write this brotp in a killing game scenario.
> 
> Also I'm really glad I got to show her smacking the heck out of something for Monocoins.


End file.
